


Stop Fake Flirting

by Chrystie, kate882



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: I can just feel Chrystie judging me when she sees that I kept this title, M/M, Manager!Kuroko, idol!Kise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-17 23:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5890051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate882/pseuds/kate882
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise asks Kuroko to run lines with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stop Fake Flirting

“Kurokocchi! Kurokocchi! Help me practice this kissing scene!” Kise bounced up towards Kuroko with his new script in hand.

“I’m sure that you have plenty of kissing experience, Kise-kun.” Kuroko didn’t even look up from his phone, where he was typing up an email.

“But the lead role says I have to do it while looking like I’m super in love, and what better way to practice than to kiss someone I _am_ super in love with.”

“Kiss Aomine-kun. You’re in love with his skill.” Kuroko said flatly.

“But Kurokocchiiii! That’s not the same!” Kise whined. Of course Kise wanted to practice more than just the kiss scene, but he found that to be the most important to practice, at least with Kuroko.

“No thank you, Kise-kun. Would you like me to get in touch with an acting coach for you if you’re not confident in your abilities?”

“Nooo! I just wanna practice with Kurokocchi! It’ll be easier having Kurokocchi as the person opposite me.” Kise widened his eyes and looked at Kuroko with the best pout he could muster.

Kuroko didn’t look up to see the pout. “What’s the big deal with me doing it?”

“I already told you. I have to be super in love in this role and it’ll be easier to act super in love if I can picture the person already super in love with when acting. I wanna practice more than the kissing scene but I also _really_ wanna kiss Kurokocchi.”

“Right . . . no.” He sent the email and looked up at Kise. “I believe in your acting skills completely, so I’m sure you will do fine without my help, but I am willing to run lines with you.”

It wasn’t exactly what Kise wanted, but it was something, he’d take what he could get. Kise smiled and wrapped his arms around Kuroko, “I guess that’s good too. Thank you, Kurokocchi.”

“Kise-kun, you’re hurting me.” Kuroko complained, trying to get out of Kise’s arms.

“Ah, sorry Kurokocchi.” Kise loosened up on his hug but didn’t completely let go of Kuroko.

“So, do I get to see the script?” Kuroko asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Right!” Kise finally let go of Kuroko and handed him his script. Kise had memorized it on the way back to Kuroko so he didn’t really need it much anymore.

“Which part are we going over?”

Kise thought over the parts that he had a feeling he would have trouble with, most of which were the crying scenes. Forcing tears to come out wasn't exactly hard, but conjuring up the emotions needed for them was particularly difficult. “How about we go over act three, scene four?”

Kuroko flipped through the pages until he found the one Kise was talking about. “You cheated on me, Kise-kun? How rude.” He commented as he glanced over it.

“I would _never!_ Kurokocchi’s too special for that.” Kise’s tone held an over dramatic tone, the effect being broken as he broke into a grin.

“My character seems to think you did. I thought I was too special.”

“You are. Kurokocchi’s character was overreacting. She apparently does that a lot,” Kise shrugged.

“And you're going to have me read for that character.” Kuroko rolled his eyes, but focused back on the script. “I can't believe you. I thought you were a good man. That I could trust you.” Kuroko didn't bother to try and sound or look angry like the script said to. After all, his job wasn't acting.

Kise had to hold down his urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of such dramatic lines coming out in Kuroko’s bored voice. He forced himself into character to give his response, “I told you it wasn’t like that! She’s just a friend!” Kise yelled at Kuroko.

“Right. A friend. That's why you were having sex with her last night.” Kuroko answered. The script said he was supposed to start crying, but that wasn't happening.

“I didn’t have sex with her! I fell asleep on her couch after we finished our work together!” This was the point Kise was supposed to tear up as a reaction to his love interest starting to cry. Kise willed tears to his eyes, which turned out to be harder than usual with Kuroko’s monotone responses.

“That's not what she told me.” Kuroko said as he answered a text message.

Kise was actually having a bit of a hard time keeping in character with how distracting Kuroko was, not that he minded too much. It _was_ Kuroko he was with after all; he could excuse it. “Then she’s lying, because nothing happened! Why can’t you just trust me?” Kise let his tears freely stream down his face, taking a sharp inhale for added effect.

Kuroko wasn't following the script when he answered that. “I don't trust people who still look pretty when they cry. It's weird.”

With that, Kise finally lost his inner battle and burst into a quiet laugh, wiping away the tears on his face. “Kurokocchi, that’s not part of the script.”

Kuroko shrugged. “The script was dumb.” He told Kise.

“Maybe a bit,” Kise said, still giggling slightly. “You know, Kurokocchi, I think that might’ve been the first time I’ve heard you actually tell me I’m pretty.”

Kuroko looked mildly surprised by that. “Is it really? Huh, I would have thought I would have at least said it a few times when getting you modeling jobs.”

“Yes. You always tell me it doesn’t matter what you think, it matters what the magazine publishers think and just brush off the topic.”

Kuroko considered that for a moment. It certainly did sound like something he would say. “Oh, well, I do think you're good looking. I just think there's more to you than that, and that by comparison your looks don't really matter that much.”

Kise couldn't help the overwhelming urge to draw Kuroko back into his arms. “You’re the best, Kurokocchi. This is why I love you so much.” Kise happily nosed Kuroko hair as he spoke. It was always nice having Kuroko remind him that he was likable for more than just his appearance when that was all the world seemed to care about.

Kuroko wasn't even a little surprised by the hug, so for a moment he just let it happen before he started to try to free himself. “We should get back to learning your lines.”

“Just a little bit longer?”

Kuroko sighed, but relaxed into Kise’s arms anyway, letting his head rest on the blond’s chest.

Kise felt his heart flip. It wasn’t often Kuroko spoiled him like this so whenever he did Kise was always tempted to test his limits. He didn’t, he was smart enough to know that those limits wouldn’t be very much, but the temptation was still there. “Hey, Kurokocchi, since we’re already like this, wanna practice the makeup scene?” It was mostly an excuse to continue holding Kuroko.

“I feel like I’m counterproductive to you learning your lines since the woman you will be acting with is probably far better at it than I am.”

“No, I think Kurokocchi is the perfect person to practice with.”

Kuroko raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Well I’m already gonna be imagining it’s Kurokocchi that’s acting opposite me so practicing with Kurokocchi makes it easier to visualize.” Kise nuzzled himself closer to Kuroko’s hair as he spoke with a happy tone.

Kuroko looked skeptical. “Either way, I think it's time for you to let go of me.” He said when he heard his phone buzzing with what was probably a message about Kise.

Kise pouted and whined slightly but relented, letting go of Kuroko and taking a step back.

“Thank you, Kise-kun.” Kuroko pulled his phone out and looked down at it. “How do you feel about partaking in an interview about this movie?”

“Who’s the interviewer?” Kise really didn’t mind doing interviews, but he’d rather not do one with someone who was more or less out to see him fail.

“Momoi-san.” Kuroko answered, holding out his phone for Kise.

“Momocchi? I haven’t seen her in a while; it’d be nice to see her again.” She was one of the few interviewers he respected and had grown to be close friends with.

“I'll let her know you accept then?” Kuroko asked.

“Yeah!” Kise answered with enthusiasm, “When is it?”

“Next monday.” Kuroko said as he messaged her back.

“Okay!” Kise placed an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders and gave him a hopeful look, “So, can you still help me with my lines? Pleeeaasseee?”

Kuroko sighed. “Should we try to continue the scene we were working on before?”

“Well, I think it’s supposed to end with you slapping me, so maybe not?” Kise knew Kuroko punched hard, he had no intention of finding out about how hard he slapped.

“I wouldn’t mind practicing that part.” Kuroko said impassively.

Kise pulled fake tears back to his eyes and clung onto Kuroko, “Kurokocchi! So mean! Even when you know how much I care about you!”

“Fake crying over something that hasn’t happened is pathetic, Kise-kun.”

Kise stopped his tears to simply pout at Kuroko, keeping his hold on him. ”Why is Kurokocchi so mean to me?”

“I don’t consider myself to be a particularly mean person.”

Kise frowned, “That didn’t answer the question, Kurokocchi.”

“That was a serious question, Kise-kun?” Kuroko arched an eyebrow.

“Well it wasn’t...” Kise adopted a contemplative face as he actually thought about it and rested his chin on top of Kuroko’s head, “but you know what, I think it should be. Why are you meaner to me than you are to other people?”

“Other people haven’t sent me to the hospital, more than once, when trying to hug me.” Kuroko ducked his head to get Kise off of it.

Kise’s head ended up falling to rest his chin on Kuroko’s shoulder and while it hurt his back slightly to bend down the way he did to achieve that position, he didn’t really want to move. “But hugging Kurokocchi is nice.”

“Is injuring me nice too?”

“No...” Kise responded, his voice laced with guilt, “But hugging like this is okay, right?” Kise rubbed his chin against Kuroko’s shoulder and lightly nuzzled his neck.

“It makes me feel short, so no.” He said flatly.

Kise whined loudly and collapsed down onto the couch behind them, dragging Kuroko down on top of him, “Is this better?” Kise smiled up innocently at him.

Kuroko frowned back at him. “I think you know that it’s not. Please let go.”

Kise heaved a sigh, but didn’t release Kuroko, “Kurokocchi is so hard to please.”

“You could start with letting go like I asked.” He suggested.

“But if I do that you're going to get up and walk away.”

“I’d probably sit on the couch, actually, but either way let go.”

Kise eyed Kuroko skeptically, but slowly loosened his arms to let go of Kuroko, and sure enough Kuroko did just move to sit next to him on the couch.

Kise sat up along with him, briefly glancing at the script in Kuroko’s hands, “Will you help me with more scenes?”

“If you want. Which scene would you like to work on, Kise-kun?” He asked with a tilt of his head.

“Well...” Kise drew out the word, making a play of thinking about it, “I still wanna do the kissing scene with Kurokocchi, but you’re not gonna let me, are you?”

Kuroko just looked at him expectantly, waiting for a different scene.

Kise thought over the scenes he had read in the script, remembering a particularly intimate scene. There wasn’t any kissing, at least not on the lips, but there was a lot of cuddling which was just as nice if it was with Kuroko. “There’s this one scene I’d really wanna do, but only if you’re okay with it, Kurokocchi.”

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. “Is there a reason I wouldn't be?”

“Maybe? It’s just a super intimate scene with lots of cuddling and stuff, no kissing though,” well there were a few cheek, neck and forehead kisses, and it was a scene directly after the two main characters had sex but Kise didn’t think mentioning that was _too_ important.

Kuroko continued to watch him with narrowed eyes, and he fully intended to say no, but instead he gave a resigned sigh and nodded. “Alright, Kise-kun. Just this once. What page?”

Kise brightened, a large smile stretching over his face, “Act ten, scene five.” Kise reached out to pull Kuroko back into his arms, pulling him onto his lap.

Kuroko looked distinctly thrown off, but flipped through the script to find the lines. He nodded to Kise to let him know he could start when he found the page.

Kise nuzzled his nose against Kuroko’s neck, humming happily as he recited his lines, “I take it you’re not mad at me anymore?”

“You're not an easy person to stay angry with.” Kuroko answered, continuing to read his lines in a monotone.

Kise had expected as much from Kuroko but it still made him want to laugh how emotionless Kuroko was. “No, you’re just too sweet.” Kise lifted his head away from Kuroko’s neck to give his cheek a swift peck.

Kuroko’s eyes snapped over to Kise, slightly widened with surprise. “You said there wasn't kissing.” He accused.

“Yeah,” Kise laughed nervously, “None on the lips, see?” Kise pointed at the script.

“You didn't say none on the lips. You just said none.” Kuroko argued.

“Kisses on your cheek, forehead and neck aren’t _that_ bad are they?” Kise mumbled.

“They aren't appropriate.” He replied, folding his arms over his chest.

Kise was tempted to point out that if cheek kisses weren’t appropriate then Kuroko sitting in his lap probably wasn’t appropriate either but he wasn’t dumb enough to let Kuroko find a reason to move away from him. “Why not?”

“I'm your manager, not your boyfriend or fellow actor, that's why. Even what we are doing right now was certainly not in my job description when I signed on to work with you.”

“But I’ve asked you to be my boyfriend before. Many times. I’ve also told you how much I love you, and every time I do you look kinda sad even if you won’t admit that you are.” Kise had never broached the topic before purely because he knew Kuroko wouldn’t want to talk about it, but Kise was impatient and he thought he’d waited long enough.

“If you think I look sad then I don't know why you insist on doing it.” He said as he removed himself from Kise’s lap.

“Because I don’t think you get sad because I tell you I love you. It’s kinda weird for someone to get sad because of that, isn’t it?” Kise leaned back onto the couch to stare up at the ceiling, “I think it makes more sense to get mad or feel nervous when someone you don’t have feelings for tells you they love you, but you get sad.” Kise redirected his gaze back to Kuroko who had sat himself on the other side of the couch, “Why?”

“I don’t like this conversation.” Kuroko decided, getting up and walking towards his kitchen to make tea.

Kise should’ve known that was how Kuroko would react. He followed after him and hugged Kuroko from behind as Kuroko tried to distract himself. “Why can’t you tell me why you get sad?”

“Because it’s not your business.” He said curtly.

“Why can’t it be? If there’s something I’m doing that makes Kurokocchi unhappy then I’ll stop.”

“Kise-kun. I believe that I just told you that it’s not your business.”

Kise tightened his arms around Kuroko, wanting to keep pushing, but he relented, dropping his arms with a quiet “okay” and dejectedly went back to the couch.

A few minutes later Kuroko came back with the tea, holding out a cup to Kise.

While Kuroko was gone, Kise had been working to get over the disappointment of not getting the answers he’d been hoping for. He hadn’t really succeeded by the time Kuroko had come back, but he could still pretend to be fine. “Thanks, Kurokocchi,” he said as he took the cup from Kuroko’s hands.

“Stop making that face.” Kuroko said, poking Kise’s cheek.  

“What face?” Kise asked with a small tilt of his head.

“The one that looks like someone kicked your puppy. But you don’t have a puppy. The closest you have is mine. And no one is kicking my puppy.”

“What are you talking about Kurokocchi? I’m fine,” Kise pulled on a bright smile, “See?”

“If that is the extent of your acting skills I’m sure I’ll be out of my job soon.”

Kise dropped his smile, sighing loudly, hoping to still keep the air between them light. “To be fair, it’s only Kurokocchi who usually sees through me.”

“Kise-kun is rather good at observation as well.” Kuroko sat next to him, sipping at his tea.

“Apparently not good enough though if I can’t figure out the answer to the things I’m asking you myself.” Kise blew at his tea before taking a long sip of it.

Kuroko just shrugged, not having an answer to that.

They sat together in awkward silence for what felt like forever to Kise, leading Kise to break it when he felt his limit for the awkwardness hit its peak. “Kurokocchi, will you go on a date with me?”

“No.” Kuroko said after finishing his tea.

 _Yeah,_ Kise had expected that. That didn’t stop him from repeating his usual line after his rejection, “Why not?”

“No.” Kuroko repeated, as per-usual.

“That’s not a reason, Kurokocchi.”

“I didn’t say that it was. It is, however, an answer.”

Kise decided to stray off his usual response to that, which was to whine loudly, and instead responded with “Okay, Kurokocchi,” before he leaned over to place a lingering kiss on Kuroko’s forehead. “I think I’ll go home now,” Kise said quietly, standing up from the couch.

Kuroko blinked a few times in surprise. They’d been doing this for nearly two years now and this was the first time he’d gotten this reaction. “Are you feeling ill?” He hoped Kise hadn’t just gotten him sick by kissing him if that was the case.

“No?” Kise wasn’t too sure where that assumption came from. Was it because he decided to break routine? “I’m fine, Kurokocchi.”

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. “You never just go home. I have to tell you to leave, several times, before you leave.”

Kise forced a small laugh, “Is it bad that I wanna go home early for once? I thought you’d prefer it.”

“I don’t trust it.”  

“What’s there to distrust? I’m just going to go home and probably go to bed,” more likely that he was going to stare up at his ceiling for a few hours questioning if he should continue his pursual of Kuroko. It wouldn’t be the first time he did that.

Kuroko’s eyes narrowed further and he got to his feet, leaning into Kise’s personal space to observe him for any sign of illness.

Kise wasn’t exactly opposed to the proximity, but it did make it a bit harder for him to want to leave. “I promise I feel fine.”

“And I don’t believe you. Your health affects your career, which affects mine as well. If something’s wrong you need to tell me.”

“You don’t need to worry, Kurokocchi. I’m perfectly fin-”

“Ryouta!” Kuroko said sharply to try and convey how serious he was.

Kise was taken aback. Kuroko rarely ever used his first name so whenever he did, no matter what the context was, Kise always felt his stomach do little flips. At Kise’s current state of mind, however, with his usual hidden frustration of rejection and his not very new contemplations of giving up on Kuroko, it just put Kise in a more difficult position with himself. Kise drew Kuroko into his arms and rested his chin on Kuroko’s head, “Kurokocchi, how would you feel if I stopped flirting with you?”  

“Concerned, like I am now. What's going on, Kise-kun?”

“It wouldn’t make you happy if I stopped?” Kise continued, ignoring Kuroko’s question.

Kuroko frowned at him. “Since when does your flirting have to do with making me happy?”

“Since I noticed that you get sad when I tell you I love you.”

“And how long ago did you notice that?”

“A while ago,” Kise answered vaguely. If Kise remembered correctly, it was around a year ago.

“Then why does it matter now and not a while ago?”

Kise frowned. Kuroko was too good at guessing. “Who said it didn’t?”

“You did. By continuing to do something that you thought upset me.”

Kise supposed Kuroko was right. The many times he’d thought about these things alone, he usually talked himself out of stopping, telling himself that it couldn’t be him loving Kuroko that was making Kuroko sad, that didn’t make sense. Kise knew he was selfish in that way which he supposed wasn’t fair to Kuroko but it was hard to let go of someone like Kuroko. “Maybe I was hoping you would eventually like me too; so I kept being selfish.”

Kuroko sighed. “It's not very nice to lead people on, Kise-kun. Certainly not when you know you're upsetting them.”

Kise’s  frown deepened and his brows knit together. He moved his chin off of Kuroko’s head to look down at him. “Why… do you say that like I don’t really love you?”

Kuroko simply raised an eyebrow, feeling no need to answer a question that Kise should know the answer to.

Kise honestly felt more than a little insulted that Kuroko would think such a thing. He let go of Kuroko and took a step back. “Kurokocchi, I’ve been in love with you for the past two and a half years. Do you really think I’m terrible enough to tell you that and not mean it?”

“I don't think you'd like my answer to that question considering how I've seen you treat a few other people.”

“How I treat someone I respect or someone in front of a camera are different from how I treat you. I wouldn’t tell any of them that I loved them let alone pursue them romantically for over two years.” It took a lot of Kise’s self control to not yell.

Kuroko took on a slightly confused expression. “You've been being serious this whole time?”

If Kise wanted to leave before because he wanted some time to think to himself, now he wanted to leave due to anger. “Of course I have been!”

Kuroko wasn't used to seeing Kise angry, and certainly not to being yelled at, and he found himself taking a startled step back, watching Kise with wide eyes as he processed the situation.

Kise forced himself to calm down. He hated being angry; anger was such an ugly emotion. He lowered his voice back down to its original volume and picked up his script, which Kuroko had put on the coffee table at some point. “I think I’ll leave now, Kurokocchi,” with that, he walked past Kuroko, towards the front door.

“Wait!” Kuroko reached out and grabbed Kise’s wrist without thinking about it or any plan for how to proceed.

Kise stopped in his tracks to look back at Kuroko with confusion. Was there a point in Kise staying longer?

“I-” he didn't know where to go with that sentence. Feelings were never his strong point. So instead he stood on his tiptoes to reach Kise’s lips with his own.

Kise momentarily froze, his eyes growing wide. Kuroko was _kissing_ him, not him kissing Kuroko like he'd always thought their first kiss would be. He was tempted to push Kuroko down and indulge in every stupid fantasy he had ever had about him, but Kise was, thankfully, more mindful than that and didn’t think Kuroko would be okay with it if he did. Instead he placed gentle fingers on Kuroko’s cheeks and pulled him closer by his hip, kissing back with the same tentative softness as Kuroko. He was sure Kuroko would pull away if he tried anything else.

After a moment Kuroko pulled back a bit. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for kissing me or sorry for thinking wrong?” Kise smiled down at him, slightly touching his nose against Kuroko’s, “‘Cause if it’s for kissing me then you’re not forgiven and have to give me another one.”

“For the second one, but I’m still willing to kiss you again.”

Kise hummed in mock contemplation, “Then maybe I’ll forgive you after I get a bit of incentive.” Kise sat back down on the couch, letting his script fall to the floor, and pulled Kuroko onto his lap, looking up at him hopefully.

Kuroko rolled his eyes, but indulged him in a short kiss anyway.


End file.
